


A Ritually Recognized Union

by rsadelle



Category: Pitch (TV 2016)
Genre: 5 Times, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-22 04:39:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11372748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rsadelle/pseuds/rsadelle
Summary: Five times Mike and Ginny talked about getting married.





	A Ritually Recognized Union

"Jerry says you've been down here for too long."

Ginny turned away from her practice to give Mike a half-smile. "Jerry says, huh?"

"Well, you know, you can't argue with Jerry."

"You don't even know who Jerry is."

"I," Mike said, "am a key member of the local sports media. Okay, I have no idea who Jerry is, but Al said he said that."

Ginny shook her head. "I'm fine."

"Nah, come on, Rookie, I'll let you buy me dinner."

"Oh, you'll let me."

Mike shrugged at her. "You did just sign a very large contract."

Ginny finally laughed and came out of the practice cage. "All right, if you can't afford your own meals."

Mike clapped a hand on her shoulder. "That's the spirit, Rookie."

Mike chose the place, and they got a secluded table where they wouldn't be bothered too much.

"So, what, you're just hanging around the park these days?" Ginny asked.

"I'm a sports broadcaster now, you know," Mike said. "I have to be on top of things."

Ginny laughed. "Oh, that's why you can't stay away."

Mike shrugged, his mouth slanted in a smile.

Ginny toyed with her water glass. "So what's with this rumor I heard about you getting an offer to do national coverage?'

Mike leaned back in his chair. "Oh, that's never going to happen."

"You don't know that." Ginny shrugged with one shoulder. "I don't watch you because I'm on the field, but, you know, I hear good things."

Mike shrugged. "They offered it to me. I turned them down."

Ginny opened her mouth, closed it again. "You- Why would you do that."

Mike leaned forward. "Come on, Ginny. You know why." He put his hand over hers on the table.

Ginny opened her mouth like she was going to make a joke, then didn't. She turned her hand under his. "Yeah."

Mike still made her pay for dinner. "It's only fair. I'm going to give you a ride home."

"I'm going home with you, so it's not like it's out of your way." Ginny smirked to have caught him by surprise.

It only took Mike a moment to recover. "You're still paying for dinner."

Ginny laughed and gave her card to the waiter.

Mike drove them home and they stopped inside the door of his house to look at each other.

"Do you want," Mike started to ask.

Ginny took his hand to stop him. "Mike. You know what I want."

"Yeah, okay, yeah."

Ginny shook her head, amused, and took half a step forward, using her grip on Mike's hand to pull him the other half a step toward her. He bent down to meet her when she reached up to kiss him. They kissed for long minutes, mouths sliding together softly.

Mike let her go reluctantly when she broke the kiss.

Ginny took his hand again. "Your bedroom's this way, right?"

"It sure is." Mike followed her through the house.

In the bedroom they undressed each other slowly and Mike laid Ginny out on his bed. He touched her softly, gently, hands roaming all over her skin.

"I'm not going to break, you know," she said, her hands running over his body in turn. "I'm not fragile."

Mike cupped her cheek in one hand. "You're not fragile," he said. "But you are precious."

Ginny stared up at him for a moment, and then she broke out into a laugh. "Wow. That is some line, Lawson."

"That wasn't a line, Baker." Mike nuzzled her, light brushes of his lips over her cheek.

Ginny's laugh died down, and she turned to meet his lips with hers. "Show me what you've got, then."

Mike did, and every touch from the way he cupped her face when he kissed her to the way he pushed into her was gentle, like he really did think she was incredibly precious.

"There are things we should probably talk about," he said afterwards when they lay side by side on their backs.

"Yeah," Ginny agreed.

"Like if we're going to tell people about it," Mike said at the same time she said, "Kids."

Mike turned his head to look at her. "Kids?"

"I want to play as long as I can," Ginny said, staring resolutely at the ceiling. "It might be too late for me to have kids after that."

Mike dropped his hand to her arm and stroked up and down it gently. "I don't think I'd be a very good dad anyway."

Ginny turned to look at him. "I think you would. I mean, there would be a lot of speeches." She grinned at him. "But you'd be good."

"Everyone loves my speeches." Mike brushed his hand over her cheek. "I'd rather have you than have kids with someone else."

Ginny leaned in and kissed him for a long, long moment. Then she pulled back and said, "Of course we're going to tell people. You're going to marry me someday."

"I am, am I?" Whatever effect he was going for was ruined by how big his smile was.

"You are." Ginny rolled toward him, pressing all along his side.

Mike put both arms around her. "Well, then I guess we'd better tell people."

*

Evelyn pointed a spoon at Ginny. "You're acting weird."

"I'm not acting weird." Ginny stole a piece of tomato from the salad and grinned.

"See? That." Evelyn pointed her spoon at Ginny one more time before returning it to its pan. "That right there. You're acting weird."

"I'm just happy," Ginny said with a shrug.

"And that is weird."

Ginny gave her a look complete with a shake of her head.

"Oh, come on," Evelyn said. "I don't mean it's _bad_. It's just weird." She handed Ginny a serving bowl to take to the table. "You're going to tell me what it is."

Ginny laughed and leaned into the living room after she put the bowl down. "Guys, come save me from Evelyn."

"Hey, you chose to go in there," Blip said.

Evelyn went over to Ginny. "You don't need saving, but dinner is ready."

"Good," Mike said. "I'm starving." He gestured at Gabriel and Marcus. "These two don't need to eat, right? Because I'm not going to leave anything for them."

Marcus and Gabriel exchanged a look and then went for Mike, pushing him out of the way as they rushed for the table.

"Hey, no roughhousing in the house," Evelyn said.

"Yeah," Blip said like he hadn't just pushed Mike himself. "No roughhousing in the house."

Ginny sat next to Mike at the table, and after everyone had food - there was more than enough for two teenage boys, two ballplayers, and Mike and Evelyn - they exchanged a look and Ginny said, "We have something to tell you."

Everyone looked up from their plates, Blip and Evelyn more intensely than the kids.

"Are you getting married?" Gabriel asked.

Mike said, "Yes," at the same time Ginny said, "No."

They looked at each other.

"No?" Mike asked with raised eyebrows.

Ginny took his hand and turned to the rest of the table. "Not yet."

"Are we going to have to wear suits to your wedding?" Marcus asked, his face wrinkling up in disgust.

Mike and Ginny exchanged a questioning look.

"Yes," Evelyn said.

Ginny turned her questioning look on her.

"What?" Evelyn said. "Of course they're going to wear suits."

"What if we all wear baseball jerseys?" Ginny asked.

"You're not getting married in a baseball jersey," Evelyn said firmly. "Not going to happen."

"If I have to wear a tux," Mike said to Blip, "so do you."

"Me? I'm not the one getting married."

"No," Mike said, "but you're going to be my best man."

"Why do you get Blip?" Ginny asked. "I've known him longer."

"You get Evelyn."

"Well, he's right about that," Evelyn said. "You're going to need my help."

Ginny smiled at her. "Of course I'm going to need your help. I don't know anything about weddings."

"I can't believe you're getting married," Blip said. "I remember when you met."

"I knew there was something going on between you two." Evelyn leaned in. "Was it love at first sight?"

Ginny looked at Mike and laughed. "No way."

Mike shook his head. "Nope. It took a while."

"Not that long," Blip muttered. He froze for a moment when everyone looked at him. "I'm just saying, this has been happening for a long, long time."

"So what happened?" Evelyn looked between them. "This is really recent, right? Because you would have told me before."

"Yes," Ginny said, "I would have told you. You're the first people we're telling."

Evelyn gestured with her fork, a rolling, get on with it motion. "Okay, so what happened?"

Ginny looked at Mike. Mike looked at Ginny.

"We went out to dinner," Ginny said.

"Come on," Blip said after she didn't say anything else. "That can't be it. You two go out to dinner all the time."

"Kids," Evelyn said, without looking away from Ginny, "go eat in the living room."

"That means it's about sex," Marcus said, sounding very knowing and also slightly grossed out.

Mike coughed and turned it into a laugh. "Wow."

Blip leaned back to make sure the kids were out of the room before he asked, "Is he wrong?"

Mike and Ginny exchanged another look.

"I told her I wasn't going national," Mike said. "They offered it to me and I turned it down."

It was Blip and Evelyn's turn to exchange a look.

"And then you decided to get married," Evelyn said.

"It's not like we're getting married tomorrow," Ginny said. "It'll probably be a couple of years. We just started dating."

"But you know you're getting married," Blip said.

"Well, yeah." Mike leaned his elbows on the table, clasped his hands, and leaned his chin on them. "I mean, I already committed to her when I turned down the national job."

Ginny smiled at him, a very soft, tender thing. After he smiled back, it turned into something wider, and she said, "Plus the sex is great."

"Oh, no," Blip said, putting his hands up. "I do not need to hear about that."

"I do." Evelyn waggled her eyebrows and pointed her fork at Ginny. "You're going to tell me about it later." She dug her fork into her food. "No wonder you were being weird before."

"I wasn't being weird," Ginny said. "I'm just happy."

*

Mike walked into the room as Ginny said, "I don't _care_. All I care about is Mike and someone to marry us." She turned when nearly everyone else saw Mike, and all the annoyance melted away to be replaced by a smile.

Mike walked over to kiss Ginny, and stayed at her side with his arm around her.

"This is Kayla," Ginny said, gesturing to the woman he didn't know. "She's our wedding planner."

Mike smiled and shook Kayla's hand. "Mike. I'm the groom."

Kayla smiled back. "Hi, Mike."

"Now that you're here," Amelia said, "you can explain to her why all of this matters."

Ginny made a face. "They want me to make all these decisions about the wedding."

Mike looked to Evelyn. "Aren't you supposed to help with that?"

Evelyn held up her hands. "Uh-uh. I have my own business to run and children to raise. I will go dress shopping, throw a bridal shower and a bachelorette party, make sure my family shows up appropriately dressed, and keep Ginny company on the day."

Mike looked at the women who were all looking to him, and at Eliot half watching and half focused on his phone. "Okay, look," he said to Kayla, "Amelia hired you because you're good at what you do, right?"

"I'm very good," Kayla said calmly.

"Okay, good," Mike said. "Then we trust you, and if you absolutely have to have an opinion from one of us, you can call me." He holds up his hand, index finger up. "Except for the cake tasting. We're both doing that." He looked at Ginny. "I'm not having an inferior cake."

Ginny grinned at him. "We wouldn't want that."

"Hey, I remember how this things go. You get busy and there are so many people to talk to, and the only food you're guaranteed to eat is the cake when you cut it. If that's all we get to eat, I want it to be good."

"Classy move, mentioning your first wedding," Amelia said.

"It's not like she doesn't know I was married."

"It's not like I don't know his ex-wife," Ginny put in. "I had lunch with her last week."

Mike looked at her. "You had lunch with Rachel?"

"She's still marrying you," Evelyn said, "so she didn't spill any dirt."

Ginny grinned. "We didn't even talk about him."

"I don't know if I'm supposed to be offended or relieved," Mike said.

"I'd take relieved," Eliot said, and then turned back to his phone under the looks of everyone else in the room.

"Look, this is not the point," Amelia said.

"Kayla's doing the planning, we'll taste the cake, Mike can answer questions," Ginny said. "What else is there?"

"You're a celebrity," Amelia said, "and a role model. People are going to want to know about your wedding, what you planned, why you made the choices you made, what you're wearing, all of it."

Ginny tilted her chin up. "No. Look, we're in the middle of the season. I have more important things to care about than what color the napkins are at my wedding."

Amelia frowned, then regrouped. "Then let's talk about coverage of the wedding itself. If we don't promise someone an exclusive, then we're just going to get paparazzi working even harder to sneak in." She looked to Mike. "You might want to have your agent in on this conversation."

Mike and Ginny looked at each other.

"Can we elope?" Ginny asked.

"Uh-uh, no way," Evelyn said. "You are having this wedding, and it is going to be beautiful, and my family is going to be in pictures in nice clothes."

The corners of Mike's eyes crinkled up into a smile. "I guess not."

Ginny laughed and leaned her forehead into Mike's chest. "It would be so much easier."

Mike put his arms around her. Over her head, he said to Amelia, "I'll have my agent call you about access. You two can work it out."

Ginny tipped her head up to look at him. "Thank you." She pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "Can you pick out my dress too?"

Mike grinned at her. "I would, but I think Evelyn might kill me."

"You're right about that," Evelyn said.

Ginny stepped out of Mike's arms so she was standing next to him. "Dress shopping and cake tasting, and that's it."

Amelia's mouth pressed into a line, but she nodded. "Okay."

Ginny nodded back.

"Good," Mike says, "now that that's settled, can I take my bride-to-be out for lunch?"

Evelyn glanced at her phone. "I should be going anyway." She hugged Ginny. "You're not getting out of dress shopping."

"I'll call you if I have any questions," Kayla said to Mike.

"Or Amelia," Mike said.

"You get used to it," Eliot said to Kayla. "What?" he said when the rest of them looked at him. "She looked overwhelmed, and it's true."

"Thank you, Eliot," Amelia said dryly. "We're leaving now."

When everyone else had left, Ginny turned back into Mike's arms. "Are you sure we can't elope?"

Mike kissed her temple. "Just think of how sad Evelyn would be. Blip would cry."

Ginny laughed. "Blip _would_ cry. I guess we're having a wedding."

*

"Are you sure you want me to give a speech?" Ginny asked.

The corners of Mike's eyes crinkled up. "Don't you want to tell everyone how much you can't wait to marry me?"

"We're doing toasts tomorrow," Evelyn said. "This is your chance to say something."

"It's not even that many people," Blip said, gesturing at the five tables filling the back room of the restaurant.

"All right, all right," Ginny said. "I'll make a speech." She pointed at Mike. "But you're going first."

"Hey, if you think you can follow me," Mike said with a grin.

Ginny elbowed him, but she was smiling too.

Between dinner and dessert, Mike stood up and tapped a glass to get everyone's attention. "I'm sure most of you know that I'm not one to hesitate when there's a speech to be given."

There were chuckles from most of the guests.

"I really couldn't give up a chance to make one tonight," Mike continued. "This is a pretty special weekend for me." He smiled down at Ginny. "For both of us. I didn't have the greatest marriage role models growing up. Hell, I've been here before and it didn't work out."

"Did he really just say that?" Evelyn said to Blip in an undertone.

"Shh. Let the man make his speech."

"But, you know, I'm a different person now, and this is a different relationship. I have some better role models now too. Blip and Evelyn are going to stand up with us and be the best man and maid of honor tomorrow, and I don't think we could have a better model of a great marriage to support us."

Evelyn leaned against Blip. "Now that was classy."

"That's not to say," Mike said, "that I'm not glad to have the rest of you here with us."

There was laughter again.

Mike smiled at the room. "I'm really glad to have all of you here to support us tonight and tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it, and not just because we picked out an amazing cake." He had to pause for more laughs, then reached down and took Ginny's hand. "I'm sure Ginny's excited to become Mrs. Mike Lawson, and I know I can't wait to be Mr. Ginny Baker." He bent down a little to press a kiss to the back of Ginny's hand. Then he held up the glass in his other hand. "Here's to a great day, and to all of you for being here with us."

A cheer went up among their guests, and everyone raised their glasses. When things calmed down a bit, Ginny stood up.

"I can't believe I have to follow that," she said.

Everyone else laughed, and Ginny grinned at the room and at Mike.

"I am excited to be Mrs. Mike Lawson, but not as excited as I am for Mike to be Mr. Ginny Baker."

There were more laughs.

"I was never one of those girls who grew up imagining my wedding. I didn't even plan this one."

There were a few chuckles.

"I was always thinking about baseball. I guess if I imagined anything about it, I thought my dad would be here."

Mike slipped his hand into Ginny's. She glanced down at him and smiled, just a bit.

"But I thought he would be here for my ball playing career too. I'm sure he's here in some way." Ginny cleared her throat, shook her head as if to shake it off, and smiled. "Thank you to all of you who could be here. Some of you, like my mom and my brother, traveled a long way to get here, and some of you, like Amelia and Eliot, are with me all the time." She raised her glass. "Thank you for being with us for our wedding."

There were cheers and the clinking of glasses as everyone drank.

Evelyn wiped at her eyes.

"Are you crying?" Blip asked.

"Like you're not."

Blip and Evelyn both got up to hug Ginny and Mike, which led to most of the room coming over to hug them. Things settled down a bit when dessert arrived, and then there were more hugs as people left for the evening.

Mike and Ginny took a car back to the hotel where they were getting married in the morning, and Mike walked Ginny to the door of her room.

"Come on," Ginny said when he wouldn't come in with her. "I don't believe in any of those superstitions."

"I know," Mike said. "But I want the next time I see you to be when you're walking down the aisle to me. I think there's something special about that, and about sleeping alone for one last night before we get married."

"You're going to be sleeping alone a lot when I'm on road trips," Ginny said.

Mike laughed a little. "Yeah, but we'll be married then."

Ginny made a frustrated noise. "All right, fine. It's a good thing I love you."

"It really is since you're marrying me tomorrow." Mike put his arms around Ginny. "Have I told you how happy I am about that?"

"I guessed." Ginny smiled up at him, and then leaned up to kiss him. "I'll see you tomorrow. At our wedding."

"Yeah," Mike said, smiling back, "our wedding."

*

Mike swiped the card to unlock their hotel room door, then looked at Ginny speculatively.

"Oh, no," Ginny said. "Don't even think about it."

"You don't want to be carried across the threshold?"

"Mike," Ginny said pointedly, "when in all of this have I cared about tradition? Besides, I don't want you to hurt your back on our wedding night before you even get into our room."

"Good point. Maybe you should carry me."

Ginny laughed and pushed him into the room.

Mike grinned and pulled her into his arms as the door swung shut behind them.

Ginny kissed him for a minute, then pulled back. "I hate to break the mood, but I'm starving."

Mike held up one finger as he stepped away from her. He opened the mini fridge and pulled out a pair of sandwiches.

Ginny laughed and joined him at the table. "No Gatorade?" she asked when he put a pair of water bottles down with their sandwiches.

"Not while you're wearing a white dress."

"We got married," Ginny said. "I don't need the dress anymore."

"Gotta keep it nice for the Hall of Fame."

They both smiled their way through eating their sandwiches. Ginny downed the rest of her water, and set the bottle down on the table with a thunk. "Okay, let's do this."

Mike laughed and got up. He kissed Ginny, both of them grinning at first, and then gentling into something softer.

"How does this dress work?"

"Um," Ginny said.

Mike raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't you know?"

"I wasn't going to take it off," Ginny said.

Mike leaned back and looked down the length of her body. "Yeah? Is that your way of telling me you're not wearing sexy lingerie under it?"

Ginny laughed. "I am wearing sexy lingerie, but." She shrugged with one shoulder. "I don't know. We got married."

Mike gestured at his tux, minus the jacket that was draped over a chair. "Does that mean you don't want me to take this off either?"

Ginny shook her head.

Mike pulled her close and kissed her. "That's kind of kinky. How did I not know this about you?"

Ginny laughed and reached between them to unbutton his pants. "Are you complaining?"

"Not at all." Mike looked at the skirt of her dress. "How do you want to do this?"

"Oh," Ginny said, following his gaze. "Maybe I should be on top."

Mike stepped away from her and sat on the bed. "Do I get to see your lingerie at all?"

Ginny pushed Mike down onto the bed. "You could take some of it off."

Mike rolled them over. "I could do that." He slid down the bed and ducked under her skirt. All Ginny could see of him was the shape he made as he rucked up her dress, but she could feel him. He trailed his fingers up her legs until he got to her underwear. He hooked his fingers under the hem and drew them down her legs. Before he came out from under her skirt, he licked across her once.

Ginny gasped, and Mike was grinning when he was free of the fabric, her panties dangling from one hand.

"Blue?"

"You're supposed to wear something blue," Ginny said.

Mike crawled up to hover over her. "I thought you didn't believe in superstitions."

"I don't." Ginny pushed him over. "You do."

Mike's face softened.

Ginny kissed him, gentle at first, and then with more urgency as she got wetter and Mike got harder.

Mike slapped her ass. "Come on, Baker. Let's get this show on the road."

"Have a little patience, Lawson." Ginny sat up. She finished getting Mike's pants open, and drew his cock out. She held onto it with one hand and used the other to move her dress out of the way so she could slide down onto him. Bare, because she had an IUD and they'd been tested because they decided they wanted to do that after they got married.

Mike closed his eyes. "Ginny."

"Yeah," Ginny said. She put her left hand on his cheek. "I'm your wife now."

Mike groaned and pulled her down to him so he could kiss her. "We got married."

"I know," Ginny said with a grin. "I was there."

Mike laughed, and then they weren't laughing. They kissed and moved together, and everything was slow and languid and perfect all the way to the end.

"Ugh," Ginny said afterwards. "This is messy." She stood up and turned around. "Unzip me."

Mike did, and took a moment to admire the bra that matched her panties before she went to the bathroom to clean up.

He was naked when she came back. She unhooked her bra and let it fall to the floor under his gaze.

Mike crooked a finger at her. "Come here, Mrs. Lawson."

Ginny crossed the room to join him on the bed. "I'm not always going to do what you say, Mr. Baker." She kissed him. "Don't think I didn't see the cake in the fridge."

Mike grinned at her. "It's good cake." He kissed her deeply before getting up to get the cake.

They ate it sitting up in bed naked, and Ginny laughed when Mike tumbled her down onto the bed after.


End file.
